Everlasting Flower
by Miss Suger Unicorn
Summary: My life changed the day that black haired lady with the pointy hat stepped into my kitchen with my pruple faced Dad. Sometimes, I look back on that day and wish it never happened, other times, I look back and feel a bliss of happiness. Life for Ever Dursley started off like any other normal girl, but everything changed when she got her letter, for both better . . . and worse.
1. Finding Out

Ever Dursley was proud to say that she was perfectly normal, thank you very much. She went to a regular school, made regular friends, and had regular dinner parties with her family's friends. She loved being normal, but the universe didn't seem to like it.

"I can't be a witch!" Ever whispered, holding the yellow-ish envelope in her hands.

"Ever!" her dad called from behind her. "Is something wrong?"

"No, Daddy!" Ever yelled over her shoulder before looking down at her envelope. "Not that you will find out of, anyway."

She tucked the letter in her jeans pocket and walked back to the kitchen, where her family was talking cheerfully. Her cousin, Harry Potter, had ran away two days ago and everyone was in a better mood with him gone.

"Just bills," Ever said, handing her dad the letter and sitting in her seat next to her mother.

Vernon grunted when he searched through his mail, but then he stopped at one and his small eyes widened.

Ever felt nervous. "What is it, Daddy?"

"Your school letter," Vernon said, making Ever stiffen. "Your Smeltings acceptance letter."

Ever breathed a sigh of relief and reached out for it. It was lighter in her hands then the Hogwarts acceptance letter.

"Aren't you excited Ever?" Petunia asked.

Ever realized she had been scowling, and forced herself to smile cheerfully. "Of course I am, Mummy. I've been waiting for this day ever since Dudley went."

It was the truth. All of Ever's friends were going to Smeltings, and they had so many plans… but it was all ruined by the Hogwarts letter.

Ever had never had as good of grades as Harry had in school, but hers weren't as bad as Dudley's, so she was smart enough to know that the Hogwarts letter wasn't going to be ignored – they would keep coming until it would be impossible to hide them.

Ever was already planning on what she would do, though. She had been planning ever since she found the letter in the pile of bills.

"Mummy," Ever said. "I was thinking that I could go get my supplies… with my friends."

Petunia smiled at her daughter, bemused. "Of course. When will we pick them up?"

"No, Mummy," Ever said, biting her lip. "I mean, just me and my friends."

Petunia's smile fell from her features, and she glanced at Vernon. "Why, Evie-Poo?"

"We just want to go by ourselves," Ever lied. "Please, Mummy?"

Petunia looked deflated, but she nodded. "Do you want to bring extra money? So you can get ice cream?"

"Yes," Ever said. "Thanks, Mummy."

Petunia smiled. "Anything for you, Darling."

Then she smoothed Ever's honey-blonde hair back, as though worried it would stick up in every direction like Harry's. Ever smiled, and did her best to make her grey eyes go so wide that saying no to her would be impossible. "May I be excused? I have to tell my friends you agreed."

"Sure, Darling," Petunia said.

Ever gave her mother a kiss on the cheek and hurried out of the kitchen, leaving her family to begin a chat about the weather – as Dudley, Ever's brother, watch television while eating bacon and pankakes.

Ever raced up to her bedroom and burst inside, finally letting her panic show as she slammed the door behind her.

"A witch," Ever breathed, running her hands through her silky hair. "I'm a witch. This is bad, this is so _so_ bad!"

Ever looked desperately around her room, looking for something – _anything _that could help her out of this mess; but there was nothing. All she ever kept in her room that she actually used was her bed – everything else she kept in her trunk, because she didn't think her parent's would approve. She had posters of her favorite actors, high heeled shoes one of her friends insisted would look nice on her but really caused her to sprain her ankle, and a diary so private Ever would just about die if anyone read it.

Ever grabbed her pillow from her bed and stuffed her face in the soft blue fabric. She was screaming at the top of her lungs, but no one would be able to hear.

"A fine way to ease your frustration," her counselor had said after a very violent fist fight Ever had started.

Ever had used the tactic ever since, and it noticeably worked – she only got into fights twice a week now.

Ever, completely out of breath, collapsed into the bed and forced herself not to cry.

She had seen the way her mother and father had treated her cousin, and she never really stopped them, but to think that they might end up treating her like that was heartbreaking and – though she would never say it out loud – scary.

Ever never really thought about it, but her cousin's life was _miserable_. He was stuffed in a cupboard all his childhood, unloved, and he was hardly ever fed. The poor boy got beaten by Ever's father, but Ever had never even winced when she heard his cries.

Ever tried to imagine herself in his position, and couldn't; it made her stomach clench.

"This is no time for an epiphany, Ever," Ever told herself. "It's time to make plans. Think, _think_, who would be able to help you… oh fudge."

The only person she knew that could help her, was the person she had never even helped. The boy who she walked by every day and they never even glanced at each other. The boy she had laughed at with her friends – even though she knew half of her friends had a crush on him.

Harry.

"No," Ever moaned. "No, no, _no_! Can this get any better?"

Harry would never agree to help her – she couldn't blame him. If she was in his place, she would have laughed in her own face. Not only will he laugh at her, but he might tell her parents, and who _knows_ what they would do to her.

Ever groaned and put her hands over her face. She had never believed in karma, but this was proof that it was real.

"I have to try," Ever said. "I have to, I _have _to."

It was true. He was her only chance, her _last_ chance; and maybe she could get him to help her, she was good at tricking people into doing what she wanted. Like how she got her mother to let her go 'shopping' – that was only one small example to many others.

One time, she even got the girl she beat up into telling the principle that she had started the fight.

Ever got to her feet and smoothed out the sundress her mother had forced her to wear. It was bright purple, so bright that you would be able to see her miles away in the dark, and had mustard yellow polka dots all over it.

Ever was sure that Harry would have had a good laugh at the sight of her.

Ever fluttered over to her dresser and took out a piece of paper and a pen from it. She had seen Harry's white owl fly to and from his window when she spent her nights on the roof, and she knew that that was the only way to reach him – so that would be very difficult for her. But owls loved to sit on the roof at night, and they barely noticed her anymore, so catching one of them would have to be simple. Not making noise while doing it… _that_ was tough.

Ever absently took out her Hogwarts acceptance letter and stared at the address on the front.

_Ms. E. Dursley_

Top Bedroom

4 Privet Drive

Little Whinging

Surrey

Ever tried not to be creeped out at the fact that they knew which bedroom was hers as she opened her letter.

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Ms. Dursley,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall,

Deputy Headmistress

"This is like a nightmare," Ever mumbled, pinching her arm hard to make sure she wasn't dreaming. "A horrible nightmare that I can't wake up from."

Ever shook her head and turned to the paper she had taken out. With a deep, calming breath, she began to write.

_Dear Harry,_

_Need your help. Mum and Dad and Dudley don't know so DO NOT TELL._

_Ever_

Ever folded up the paper and stuffed it in her pocket with the Hogwarts letter. Dudley had a thing for snooping around, and if he found the letter… then her life was over.

"Ever, Darling!" Petunia called. "Your little friends are here!"

Ever cursed under her breath. The last thing she needed was her friends visiting. Nevertheless, she faked a smile and skipped down the stairs to the front door, where her three best friends were standing, wide smiles on each of their faces.

"What are you guys doing here?" Ever asked when she made it to them.

"We've come to walk with you to our dance class," Ever's friend, Olivia, said. "Don't you remember?"

"Oh," Ever frowned. "Sorry, I have a lot on my mind."

"She's just been accepted to Smeltings," Petunia said, obviously unable to keep her excitement in.

Ever's other friend, Isabelle, smiled. "Really? That's absolutely lovely."

Isabelle was Petunia's favorite. In her eyes, she was a perfectly respectable young lady that was worthy of her daughter's presence. But Isabelle was really the complete opposite, she talked bad about everyone she knew and stole from stores and people.

"It is, isn't it?" Petunia beamed. "Well, I guess you girls want to be on your way."

"Yes," Ever said, giving her a kiss on the boney cheek. "Love you, Mummy. I'll see you later."

The other girls called goodbye also and they all left, not talking till they heard the door close.

"What were you doing in your room, Ever?" Isabelle asked. "You came down looking pale."

Ever rolled her eyes and smiled. "None of your business, Izzy."

Isabelle narrowed her eyes suspiciously but let it go.

Ever's other friend, Lynette, grinned at Ever. "I didn't see Harry, Ever. Did you guys finally throw him out."

"I wish," Ever sighed. "But he's like a cockroach – you can never really get rid of him."

Olivia, Isabelle, and Lynette nodded, though Ever could tell that they were all secretly happy that he wasn't away.

"Well, you'll be at Smeltings with us anyways," Olivia said. "You'll only need to see him on summer holidays."

Ever smiled sadly at her friends. Though they sometimes annoyed her so much, she would really miss them. "Actually, guys, I won't be going to Smeltings."

"What?" Lynette scrunched up her eyebrows, confused. "But your mum said…"

"Yeah, I got my acceptance letter," Ever nodded. "But I also got an acceptance letter from a _different_ school and I'm going there."

"Your mum doesn't know," Isabelle said. It wasn't a question.

Ever shook her head. "Please don't tell her."

The girls glanced at each other, and got little smirks on their faces.

"What's in it for us?" Olivia said.

Ever grimaced. "My mum is giving me extra money for ice cream – probably about fifty dollars."

"So about sixteen dollars for each of us," Isabelle wasn't the smartest of the group, but she was good with her money. "Okay, I'll hold my tongue."

"Me too," Olivia and Lynette said.

"Good," Ever grinned. "That's good.


	2. Relief

Ever lifted her leg on the bar and bent as low as she could without it snapping off. Usually, this would have hurt a lot, but with her ballet suit on, she felt like she could flex herself into a pretzel if she wanted.

Olivia, Isabelle, and Lynette did the same in front of her. Olivia was the best at it; she always managed to sit on the floor with her foot still clinging to the bar.

"Okay, I'll bite," Isabelle whispered so that or dance instructor didn't hear over the soft music playing. "What school are you going to that is so important you'll ditch us?"

Ever rolled her eyes. "Don't be so dramatic, Isabelle. We will still see each other on holidays."

Lynette looked at me with her big ember eyes. "The plan was to stick together, Ever. That's why we all applied to the school _your _family chose for you. You know how long it took me to convince my Mum to let me go?"

This is what annoyed me about Lynette. Out of the four of us, she was the nicest – but that's what made her so _mean_. She knows just what to say to make you feel like the worst person in the world.

"It's not that I _want_ to go," Ever said, bending almost as low as Olivia. "I _have_ to go. There's a difference."

"Like the difference between how you _had_ to have your own cell phone?" Olivia said. "That you would _die_ without it?"

"My parents _still_ won't let me have a cell phone," Isabelle said.

Isabelle was a spoiled girl, and when her parents said no – she would mope and groan about it until she got what she wanted. So the fact that she _still_ never got a cell phone after two months still shocked her friends.

"No, this is different," Ever said. "I have to this time. But my parents can't know."

"Why not?" Isabelle said. "Why are you keeping secrets from us. It's not like we're going to tell."

Ever looked at her skeptically. Ever loved her friends, she really did, but they had the biggest mouths in their grade school. The word 'secret' wasn't in their vocabulary.

"Fine," Isabelle sniffed. "If you won't tell us – I'll have to tell your Mum and Dad that you don't plan on going to Smeltings."

Ever's jaw dropped. "What? You can't do that. We had a deal!"

"Ssssh!" said their dance instruction, gliding by them in her tutu. "No talking!" she practically sang.

"You haven't given us our money yet," Olivia said, taking her foot off the bar and trying to stand on her tip-toes – which was _very_ painful. "So, technically, our deal isn't set in stone yet."

Ever set her jaw. "You would really do that to me? I'm supposed to be your best friend."

"Friends don't keep secrets from each other, Ever," Lynette said. "For all we know, you can be doing something dangerous. We're worried about you."

Ever doubted this, but Lynette's voice sound so sincere she felt guilty against her will. Ever sighed and leaned forward so no one could hear. The girls leaned forward also.

"I'll tell you during break, okay?" Ever said.

The girls looked pleased as they smirked at eachother.

"I hope you know that I won't be giving you the fifty dollars," Ever continued.

Their smirks fell from their faces.

"What? No." Olivia said, crossing her arms and landing flat on her feet. "You have to give us the money, or we'll tell."

"What will you gain from telling?" Ever asked, raising one eyebrow. "You won't have money _or_ information. Choose which you want more."

The girls glanced at each other, communicated with their eyes, and said, "Fine. You tell us _everything_."

When their dance instructor finally let them get a break, the girls crowded around Ever so that she wouldn't be able to make a run for it.

"Well?" Olivia said, looking excited. "What's this secret school you're sneaking off to?"

Ever frowned. She wasn't sure if she should tell her friends, but no one really said that she couldn't. She remembered how secretive Harry was after the year, not telling them anything very important about his school or his wand; this made her not want to tell, but she needed to tell someone.

"It's a long story," Ever said. "And you guys might not believe me."

"Try us," Lynette said.

So Ever told them. She told them about Harry and his dead parents and how he was a wizard. She told them how her parent's didn't want anyone to know about it. Then she told them about the letter she received – and to prove it, she took the letter out of her ballet shoes (she wanted to keep it close to her) and let all three of them read it.

The girls had stood silent the whole story, nodding at certain parts and looking surprised at others; but this seemed too much. They burst out laughing.

"Did you actually think we believed you?" Isabelle laughed.

Ever felt her face grow hot. "Well, no-"

"And she created a fake letter, too," Isabelle smirked, glancing at Olivia and Lynette, who were both giggling fiercely. "How cute."

"This isn't a joke," Ever objected. "I'm not joking, Isabelle!"

Isabelle's eyes widened, then she whipped around to the girls, her eyes full with mirth. "She's serious! She thinks she's a witch. What a… what a _freak_!"

Ever stomped her foot. "I'm _not_ a freak, Isabelle. Let me see my letter."

"No, I think I'll keep it for a while," Isabelle said. "We can show it to the whole neighborhood."

"No, Isabelle, give me my letter!" Ever was in Isabelle's face now, at least three inches shorter but she still looked dangerous. "Now!"

Ever had never fought one of her friends before, but she had never been any more humiliated, so she would make an acceptation.

"Girls!" the dance instructor marched over to them, her thin face pinched in disapproval. "What is all this shouting for?"

"She won't give me back my letter," Ever said, trying to remain calm but she felt anger boiling in her. Her hands were clenching and unclenching. She wished she had a pillow, but the room was completely empty except for the bars attached to the mirror walls.

The dance instructor plucked the letter out of Isabelle's hands and she skimmed through it, her lips getting more and more pursed.

"Why this is… this is silly," The dance instructor said, waving the letter around. "I am going to report to your parents, Ever, for spreading such lies."

"I wasn't spreading," Ever said angrily. "It's _my_ letter and I wasn't showing anyone but my friends."

"Friends," Isabelle scoffed, crossing her arms. Olivia and Lynette crossed their arms too, both of them standing beside her. "What friends?"

Ever tried to not get hurt by this comment, but she felt as though a shard of glass had pierced her chest. She felt her eyes sting and she looked at the dance instructor so her 'friends' wouldn't see.

"You can't tell my parents, Ma'am," Ever pleaded, her voice close to breaking.

This was the wrong thing to say. She glared down at me with her hawk-like eyes. "I can do whatever I like, Ms. Dursley. Now go back to stretching."

She made to bustle away but Ever grabbed for the letter, trying to yank it out of her dance instructors firm grip.

"Give it back!" Ever screamed, yanking as hard as she could. "Give it back! _Give it back_!"

This would have worked for Ever's parents, but the dance instructor seemed to get more furious by her demands. Her nostrils flared and her face hardened. She looked as though she had swallowed a lemon.

"I will not tolerate this!" the dance instructor said. "Now stop behaving so foolishly, little girl!"

"Give it back!" Ever screamed again.

Flashes entered her mind. Scenes of what could happen to her if her parent's found out. Stuffed in a cupboard, neglected, and unfed. She could be put up for adoption or thrown into the streets, probably stuffed in a crazy hospital. Her parents can turn their nose up at her and not buy her presents; her brother could push her and get away with it. Harry could be better treated.

Ever's grey eyes flashed dangerously. She won't let that happen to her, she would _not_. "Give – it – _back!_"

There was a sound of shattering glass, then screams.

Olivia was screaming the loudest of them all, and tears were streaming down her face as the glass walls were caving in the room, skidding across the polished floor and landing in the girls' hair's.

In shock, the dance instructor let go of the letter and Ever stuffed in in her ballet shoe as she ran for the exits.

"Single file, please!" the dance instructor was screaming, though she herself looked like she wanted to push by every kid and run outside into the fresh air.

The glass was still breaking, falling from the walls and shattering to the floor. Lynette, who had been closest to the glass, got knocked in the head with a large shard and she was wobbling around like an old lady, holding her head and crying when her hands came away bloody.

"Move, move!" Isabelle was pushing everyone away from the exits, desperate to leave the house. "Out of the way!"

Olivia was screaming, Lynette was sobbing, and Isabelle was causing an even bigger panic. Ever was already outside, running down the green lawn to the street where ten other girls were standing, staring at the building in horror.

From the outside, the building didn't look as though it had just turned into a danger zone, because there were no windows to look inside, but the swarm of children running over each other to be let out was enough to make the people who sat on their porches in the nearby houses to look up from their own little worlds and stare.

"Head count, head count!" The dance instructor was saying. "Olivia Ali?"

"Here!" Olivia said faintly. She was sitting on the grass, her hand to her heart but looked otherwise unharmed.

"Katherine Beauregard?"

"Here!" Katherine was one of the shy students, and she looked very shaky and had was holding her foot as though she had stepped on some shards of glass as she left.

The list went on and on, and it seemed that everyone was outside. Most weren't injured, but some got a few scrapes and were panicking about it.

Ever felt sick in her stomach because she knew it had been her who did this, but she still felt pleased that she had gotten her letter back. That is, until she seen her 'friends' walking up to her, looking both scared but determined.

"We know you did it," Olivia said when they reached her.

Ever stared at them. "Don't tell. Please."

"Oh, we won't," Lynette said. "No need to worry about that. What you _should _be worrying about is all those people you hurt, Ever. What is _wrong_ with you? You don't even look the least bit guilty."

Ever was relieved. They weren't going to tell. She wouldn't get in trouble.

"Besides," Isabelle said. "No one would believe us. And we don't want to be put in a rubber room."

"Why would you destroy our dance room, Ever?" Olivia said. "That's so mean. That's my life in there."

"Because she's a freak, that's why," Isabelle stuck her nose in the air. "I always knew she was weird. Right from the start."

"Stop being mean, Isabelle," Ever said. "We're friends, remember?"

"I'm not friends with weirdoes," Isabelle said, then flipped her hair. "Hope you have fun at your weirdo school. You know, I'm actually glad you won't be going to Smeltings – it's too good of a school for you."

Ever watched as her 'friends' walked away.

Everyone was still in a panic, and parents were pulling up in the driveway. When Ever seen Petunia and Vernon running over to her, looking scared, Ever felt a sense of relief again.

They wouldn't know about the letter. The dance instructor would forget all about it. She was safe… for now.


	3. Letter Sent and Recieved

The night air was cool against Ever's pale skin as she opened her window wide. Climbing out the window was so familiar to her, that she did it almost unconsciously. Her hands gripped the edges and her bare feet made sure not to step too close to the edge.

Ever twisted her body so that she could grip the top of the window and swung herself upwards. With a twirl, she was sitting on the ceiling, her bare legs dangling over the edge.

Petunia would probably die of shock if she seen her daughter up here, but Ever made sure to do it when they were asleep. It was a close call that night Harry ran away with the flying car, because Vernon had stuck his head out the window. One look up and he would have seen her pale face sticking over the edge.

Ever remembered the four boys in the car, roaring with laughter of pure happiness, and wondered how it would feel to be them, growing up with magic. Ever had never thought of magic before, every time she thought of this she would wrinkle her nose in disgust.

She had been wrinkling her nose when she seen the flying car, but her nose unwrinkled when all four boys looked at her, straight in the air.

No one knew that she sat on the ceiling at night, looking over Private Drive as though she owned it, so it had unsettled her that her cousin found out that easily.

He had looked at her, his face unreadable, and she had stared back. They didn't have any feelings for each other, they didn't _care_ for each other, it was as though two complete strangers lived in the same house. So that was why she wondered why he had stared at her until they were too far away to see each other's faces anymore.

Ever tucked her knees under her chin and looked over Private Drive.

In daylight, Private Drive looked like a typical perfect neighborhood. So perfect it was boring, at least for Ever. But at night it was like something plucked from a fairytale, too beautiful to believe that it was real.

The street lamps twinkled in the distance, the moon sending a silver glow over the pale grey roofs of the houses. The gardens had different colored flowers that gave the dark gardens splashes of color. Sometimes an animal would streak across the garden, their shadows stalking behind them like small ghosts.

_It's beautiful_, Ever thought, _truly beautiful_.

No one else in her family would notice its beauty. Her mother would point out all the ugly, Vernon would point out that their neighbors should kill the animals before they ruined the flowers, and Dudley would just stare. Ever hated to admit flaws in her family, but not being able to see the beauty in something was one big flaw that Ever was a afraid would never be fixed.

Ever took the letter out of her pocket, the one she was going to send to Harry, and fingered the corners. Would he help her? After so many years of ignoring him, could he have developed some hatred for her? Loathing? Resentment?

Suddenly, an owl hooted. It was small, and wouldn't have been noticeable if Ever hadn't of had her ears open for just that sound.

She glanced beside her and saw a small grey owl. It was rather unimpressive by its size, but it still had a strange beauty to it. It's eyes are so black it could have almost been purple, and it's feathers looked more like the shadows that streaked behind a sprinting animal; over one eye, there was a black spot, and as Ever looked closer, she noticed that the small grey owl was covered in black dots, some smaller than the others.

She didn't jump to it, but made a strange lunge. If she had jumped, she would have slipped right off the roof and landed in the rose bushes, but since she lunged upward, she caught the bird's small body with both her fists and managed to did her foot in the pipe that separated the roof from the window.

The owl hooted in protest and Ever felt it's small body struggling out of her grip, it's wings trying to expand.

"Sssh," Ever insisted, glancing nervously at her feet. "It's okay, owl, I won't hurt you."

The owl sent Ever a glare, a distrustful one, but it stopped struggling. Ever wasn't surprised, most animals seemed to like her.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Ever said again. "But can you send a letter for me?"

The owl hooted.

"I letter to my cousin," Ever said. "I'm going to let you go, but you aren't going to fly away until I attach the letter to your leg. Am I clear?"

The owl hooted. It wasn't much of a promise, but it was all she had. So ever released the owl from her grip and it immidiatly took off. For a horrible moment, Ever thought it would fly away, but then it settled at the chimney on the roof and glared down a Ever.

"Please," Ever said desperately, she held out her folded letter. "Can you take it to Harry Potter? Please?"

The owl's expression didn't change, but Ever felt as though it was giving in.

"Please," Ever said again. The word was foreign to her tongue, she hardly ever said it, but she put as much meaning into it as she could. She just hoped that this wouldn't become a habit.

The owl did that odd twitching walk birds did when they didn't feel like flying, and jumped off the chimney. Ever put the letter in the owl's beak hesitantly and was startled when it took off.

"Wait!" Ever called. "You don't even know where he is!"

The owl didn't turn to look at her, but Ever had a strange feeling that it was rolling it's incredibly dark eyes.

Days passed and the owl still didn't come back. Ever was finding herself sitting on the roof every night, just staring off into the distance.

Her family didn't notice. They would hug her and kiss her and say that they were so sad about the dance classes being canceled, but they didn't notice that Ever didn't talk about her friends anymore, or that her life was pretty much falling apart around her.

Ever was relieved by this, but she couldn't help being hurt. Ever wondered if those red headed boys who stole Harry away would have noticed if _his_ life was falling apart. The second she thought it, she knew that they would. After all, the red headed boys had known that something was wrong from miles away, so they came with a flying car and rescued Harry.

Ever felt an uncomfortable lump fill her throat. She didn't know what it was at first, but then she realized that it was jealousy. She was _jealous_ of Harry Potter. The scrawny boy who was stuffed in a cupboard, the boy whose best gift from his aunt and uncle was an old man sock.

"Ever, darling, do you not like your chocolate cake?" Petunia said, looking at her daughter play with her food. "I thought it was your favorite. Would you like me to make angel cake instead?"

Ever felt tempted to say yes, but then she decided that Dudley would probably eat it anyways, so she shook her head. "No thanks, Mummy."

Dudley looked up, his watery blue eyes looking at Ever's cake greedily.

"Would you like my cake, Dudley?" Ever asked.

Dudley smiled and took the cake from his sister. He didn't thank her.

"Look at our Evie-Poo sharing with our Dudders," Petunia said to Vernon.

Vernon grunted.

Petunia smoothed down Ever's soft hair with a proud smile. When she smiled like that, you could hardly notice her thin face, or her bony cheeks, or her long neck; when she smiled, she looked beautiful. Ever wished that her smile could transform her face, but every time Ever looked in the mirror, all she seen was a pale girl staring back at her.

"You look sort of sick, Evie," Petunia said, her thin eyebrows pulling together in worry.

"I'm fine," Ever lied. "But I – er – I want to go to my room."

"Of course," Petunia smiled, as though it was perfectly normal for Ever to not want a second piece of chocolate cake. She _loved_ chocolate.

Ever got up from her chair and went to her room. It was a very pleasant surprise when she seen a small owl sitting on her bed.

Ever nearly shouted with glee when she seen the small bird glaring at her bitterly, but she knew that that would send Vernon running up the stairs with a baseball bat. So Ever shut her door and went over to the small bird, who stuck her leg out.

A rolled up paper was tied to its leg. But it wasn't the sort of paper Ever was used to, it was rougher, and slightly heavier.

Ever gingerly took it from the glaring birds leg and rolled it up. It wasn't written in pen, or even pencil, it was written in black ink. Ever wondered where Harry would get ink.

_Meet me at Ida's Ice cream shop on Tuesday._

That was all. He didn't say if he was willing to help or not, he just told her to meet at an ice cream shop?

Ever felt anger at Harry for being so vague, but she took a deep breath to call herself. She couldn't go to an Ice cream shop screaming her head off at the person she needed to help her; it wouldn't accomplish anything.

Ever put her head in her hands and struggled to keep the tears at bay. She hated to cry, it was humiliating, but right now it felt like the only solution. She laid in her bed and cried silently into her fuzzy pillow.

It didn't feel good that her only hope was in the hands of someone else. It made her feel so small and easily breakable. She had hoped that Olivia, Isabelle, and Lynette would help her but they hadn't talked to her since they announced that they weren't friends anymore.

In the back of Ever's mind, she realized that this was how she had treated Harry – ignoring him because he was different. But it didn't stop her from being indignant that her 'friends' abandoned her in a blink of an eye.

Ever threw her pillow across the room and hit the ugly purple vase Petunia had put in her dresser. The vase shattered on the floor, just the mirrors at the dance classes had.

Ever heard hurried footsteps and seen her dad throw open the door, looking extremely worried.

"Ever, are you okay?" Vernon said, not noticing the glass on the floor as looked around the room – as though expecting some burglar to come out waving an axe.

"The vase shattered," Ever pointed to the glass on the floor, hoping Vernon wouldn't see the dried tears on her cheeks.

Vernon looked down at the destroyed vase and looked much calmer. "Petunia! Your vase shattered."

There were more footsteps and Petunia stepped into the room, glanced at the broken vase, and looked ready to feint. "My beautiful vase!"

Ever looked at the vase and thought it looked anything but beautiful, but she didn't tell her mum that as she watched her clean it up. When Petunia was done, she straightened up and looked at Ever in concern.

"Are you sure you're okay, Ever?" Petunia asked worriedly.

Ever looked away from her mother as the tears started to stream down her cheeks again. "I'm fine, Mummy." Ever lied. "I'm fine."


	4. Help

Ever twirled a honey blonde curl in her small finger as she sat nervously in an empty booth at her favorite ice cream shop; Ida's Ice Cream. Never had she felt so nervous meeting someone before, least of all her elder cousin, so the feeling wasn't pleasant in her system.

Harry was running late, but Ever had past the feeling of anger and humiliation – all she felt was a sort of fierce desperation. If Harry decided to not come, her life would be over.

"Would you like anything, Sweetie?" asked a sugar sweet voice.

Ever looked up to see the familiar face of Ida, the shop owner. She had bubblegum pink hair – something both Petunia and Vernon found disturbing – sky blue eyes, and round cheeks. If it wasn't for the wrinkles at the corner of her eyes, Ever would have thought she was only eighteen.

"Triple Chocolate Fudgie Buddies," Ever said, forcing a smile.

"So the usual then," Ida said brightly, not even bothering to scribble it in the small pink notebook she was holding in her small kid hands. "Where are you Mummy and Daddy, Sweetie?"

"Home," Ever said, wishing to be left alone.

"Escaped them, then," Ida winked a blue eye at Ever. "How did you manage to get away?"

"I'm eleven years old," Ever sniffed, her smile faltering. "I am able to go to a ice cream shop by myself."

Ida raised her eyebrows, which were slender and pretty. "Of course you can, Sweetie. I'll be back with your ice cream."

Ever watched as Ida wiggled her way through all the filled tables to the kitchen. Men turned their heads to watch her walk by.

Ever signed and sunk into the plush pink seat of her booth. Everything in this shop was pink. The walls, the posters, the light bulbs, the worker outfits, even the sprinkles on the ice creams. Ida made it known what her favorite color was.

Isabelle hated all the pink, but Ever, Olivia, and Lynette adored it. It was like entering a different world when you came in this shop – something Ever never thought she would like. Things that were different…. They didn't appeal to Ever one bit. But Ever had always liked this shop.

A few moments later, a large cup of ice cream was placed in front of her. Ever couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as she took the spoon from Ida, who looked pleased with Ever's reaction.

"I made it special this time," Ida said proudly. "You looked a bit down."

"Thank you," Ever said politely.

Ida smiled there for a moment, and then seemed to hesitate. "Is there something wrong, Sweetie? Are you having family problems? Is that why you're here by yourself?"

Ever stiffened. Ida was a friend, an elderly friend, but still a friend nevertheless. But Ever already learned the hard way how easily a friend can turn on you.

"Nothing's wrong, Ida," Ever lied. "And I'm not having family problems; I'm just… waiting for someone."

Ida's eyes flashed, and the corners of her glossy pink lips turned down. "For _someone_? Are you waiting for a date, Sweetie?"

Ever felt her cheeks turn as pink as the sprinkles on her ice cream. "Uh – no, Ida. No, I'm – er – not."

Ida didn't seem convinced. "He's late, isn't he? I wouldn't wait for him, Sweetie. It's not worth it."

Ever felt it was odd that she was getting dating tips from Ida. When she had felt her first crush, it had been on a boy in her class – who was an inch shorter than her but still quite cute – and she had asked an older student for advice. She never did get to tell the boy how she felt.

The tinkling of the bell broke Ever out of her musings and both Ida and Ever turned their heads towards the door. A boy walked through, about Ever's age; he had messy black hair that fell over his emerald green eyes and framed his thin face.

"Well there's a nice lad," Ida said to Ever. "You should snatch _him_ up."

Ever wrinkled her nose at this, and still looked disgusted when the boy approached.

"Harry," Ever said tightly, glancing uneasily at Ida.

Ida didn't look pleased that Harry approached, her earlier comment seeming to vanish from her mind. Now she looked at Harry as though he was a nasty bug that _needed_ to be squashed.

"Well, _you're_ late," Ida said harshly, making Harry blink. "What's your excuse for making a young lady wait?"

"Er…"

"Ida," Ever said before she could say anything that would scare Harry away. "Can we get some privacy, please?"

Ida sniffed bitterly, shooting Harry a nasty look. "Fine. But only because _you_ asked."

Ida bustled away, her small button nose thrust into the air.

Harry sat awkwardly in the seat across from Ever, shooting Ida uneasy glances. He had never been in this shop, but he had heard the Dursleys talking about it a lot. The only reason he chose this place was because he didn't think Ever would like it if he said 'meet me at the Leaking Cauldron'.

"Ever," Harry said, looking at his cousin with unreadable green eyes that unnerved her. "What is it you need help with?"

Ever pursed her lips at the word 'help' but didn't comment on it. She took a scoop of ice cream from her cup and tasted it. The flavor exploded in her mouth – dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and white chocolate all rolled in one – and it took her a moment to reply.

"I've received…. A letter," Ever said carefully to Harry.

Harry stared at her for a moment. "What letter, Ever?" he said impatiently, a tone he used when Dudley was being particularly slow at the moment.

Ever was slightly green and her hands began to clam up. "A letter… similar to yours."

Harry felt nausea rise in his throat but he denied the thought that surfaced in his mind at her words. "The letter you sent me by owl? Speaking of owls, how did you manage to get one?"

"It was on the roof," Ever said tightly. "And that's not the letter I'm talking about, Harry. I'm talking about that school letter. I've been excepted."

"For Smeltings?" Harry said weakly.

"For _Hogwarts_," Ever corrected, and a loud silence followed these words.

"No," Harry said, looking as though his worst nightmare was starting to come true. "No, you _can't_ be a witch."

Ever winced horribly at these words and her small pale face looked pained. "I _am_ one, though. It said so. Unless…. Unless it could have made a mistake?"

"Did it have your name on it?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Ever said. "And my address, my room…"

Harry looked sickened, and Ever looked ten times worse. Her blonde curly hair making her pale face even smaller than normal, her grey eyes wide and frightened. Looking at her, Harry was usually reminded of a lion with its mane of hair and emotionless expression, now he was reminded of a mouse – small, delicate.

Somehow this seemed to clear his head. "Er, are you planning on telling Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia?" Harry asked.

Ever shook her head. The pink light bulbs made her hair look slightly orange, like fire.

"Are you planning on telling _anyone_?" Harry asked.

Ever hesitated, wondering if she should tell him about her ex-friends, but then decided that could be kept a secret. "No."

Harry didn't know what to make of this, on being the one to hold her secret, but he knew he would never tell – no matter how much he would have liked to.

"What do you want from me?" Harry said.

"Your _help_," Ever said. "Take me to the place you got your wizard stuff, help me keep it a secret from Mummy and Daddy, I need your _help_ Harry."

The words burned her throat, but she knew she needed to say them. She reached out and grabbed Harry's hands and looked at him with large doe-like eyes, the same expression on her face she used on Vernon whenever she really wanted something.

Harry, who recognized this face, didn't melt into it like she hoped he would, but he nodded, and that was good enough.

"Thank you," Ever felt a rush of relief and she leaned back, very pleased with herself. "When are you going to take me?"

"I'll owl you," Harry said, a bit bitter.

Ever smiled and got to her feet. "Make sure your owl doesn't catch Mummy's and Daddy's attention," she told him, then took her large cup of ice cream and put the money on the counter. "I'll see you some time, I guess."

As Ever left, she seen Harry put his head in his hands and wondered – for the first time in her life – if Hogwarts was not only about wanting to learn magic for Harry, but a way to get away from her and her family as well.

Dudley was pulling at Ever's hair when Vernon and Petunia weren't looking, and Ever was poking Dudley hard in the stomach.

"Stop it," Dudley hissed, yanking one lock of hair.

"_You_ stop," Ever hissed back, poking him at the side.

Petunia turned to them and they both stopped and began to eat their food as though nothing happened – Petunia didn't suspect a thing.

"How was work, Vernon?" Petunia asked, glancing out the window where Mrs. Next Door Neighbor was shouting at her new dog for doing his business in her rosebushes.

"The coffee is horrible," Vernon grunted in answer.

Petunia looked cross. "Really? I always wondered how people could be so stupid as to not know how to make a simple cup of coffee."

"I agree," Vernon said, looking really angry. "I don't know why I ever hired those morons in the first place."

Ever poked Dudley and he yelped.

Both Vernon and Petunia looked at Dudley, whose watery grey eyes were glaring at Ever.

"What is it, Duddie-kins?" Petunia asked worriedly.

"Ever keeps poking me," Dudley said, pointing a sausage finger at his sister.

"What! No I'm not!" Ever lied.

Petunia and Vernon glanced at each other, confused. This usually happened before, one would accuse the other and the other would say that they were lying – usually Vernon would blame Harry, but Harry wasn't here today.

Now they didn't know _what_ to do. On one hand, Ever could have been poking Dudley – but Ever was an angel and wouldn't hurt a fly – on the other hand, Dudley could be lying – but _Dudley_ was an angel and would never lie.

"Are you sure, Dudley?" Vernon asked.

"Yes!" Dudley said.

"But it doesn't seem like her to do that," Petunia reasoned. "Maybe it was something else."

Dudley, seeing that they didn't believe him, put on a face. He was about to throw a tantrum. Petunia hesitated.

"Dudley, why would you say that?" Ever said, her eyes wide and innocent. "We were having a nice and normal family time. We don't want to end up like those other siblings, fighting every day, do we?"

Petunia gasped, her hand flying to her throat. "We would _never_ end up like _that_ family, right Vernon?"

"Right," Vernon grunted.

Dudley scowled at Ever and she smirked at him.

Suddenly, there was a clattering sound upstairs, making the family go silent.

"What was that?" Vernon demanded. "If that boy came back…"

Ever paled and pursed her lips. What sort of owl did Harry send her? Making that much noise?

"It's probably nothing," Ever said, getting up from her seat. "I'll go check on it."

Her family stared at her. She never volunteered to do stuff, especially if it might concern Harry, so it shocked them all.

But Petunia smiled at Vernon. "Look at Evie-Poo! She is helping. What a fine young lady."

Ever wondered how she was a fine young lady but still had those atrocious nicknames, but she decided to not note on that, she never did.

Ever raced up to her room, passing her families bedrooms as she did so, and when she made it to her room she found a round little brown owl with wide ember eyes that reminded me too much of Lynette's. It was fluttering around the room, twittering happily, and thankfully not doing its business.

"Shh!" Ever hissed at it, closing the door behind her and glaring at it. The ugly brown color of it clashed horribly with her orange room wallpaper. "Do you want to get me in trouble?"

The ugly brown owl tweeted in answer.

"I said, get _down_," Ever climbed on her bed and jumped on it, trying to grab it in her fists. But the owl, though small, was very fast and seemed to think this was a sort of fun game. "What is wrong with you?"

After a slight struggle, the owl got bored with the game and took refuge in Ever's curly blonde hair. It was even bold enough to scrap its feet against her locks as though it were making a nest. Petunia would have feinted.

"Aurgh!" Ever said, falling on her bed in exasperation, but the stupid ugly bird clung to her head. "Get off you-"

"Ever-Kins?" Petunia's voice sweeped into the room, but she didn't enter. Ever made sure her whole family knew to give her privacy. "Is everything alright? Did you find the noise?"

"Yes, Mummy," Ever said, keeping her voice light and innocent. "It was nothing; I just left my television on."

"You have a television?" Petunia sounded uncertain.

Ever looked at her dresser, where her television used to sit. She had thrown a tantrum because her teacher had given her a D on a report card, and her television had paid the price. But Petunia and Vernon gave her so many presents that they didn't even keep track of it anymore – and they weren't allowed to enter her room _anyways_…

"Of course," Ever lied. "Don't you remember? It was at Ted's TV's and I said I loved it, so Daddy got me it."

"Oh, right," Petunia said, as though she actually remembered. "I have forgotten. Turn down the TV, then, Ever."

"Alright, Mummy," Ever said, hoping she would leave.

To Ever's relief, she heard the rhythmic steps Petunia had – she always made sure everything about her was perfect.

Ever grabbed at the little bird in her hair and started yanking on it, but its little feet seemed fond of her hair and refused to leave.

"Get out of my hair, vermin," Ever hissed. "I need that letter!"

The bird tweeted and seemed to like the sound of it because it did it for a few more moments as Ever kept trying to yank it out of her hair.

_I'm going to have to wash my hair after this_, Ever thought bitterly. _And then re-wash it, and then re-re-wash it_.

The birds tweeting was getting louder, and much more irritating. Ever got up from her bed and went to her mirror; she gasped at the sight.

Her hair wasn't the same wild that she liked it – curls so thick and smooth that it looked like a lions mane – now it was just _messy_. And it was all because that little owl sitting right in the middle, tweeting as though it wasn't about to get thrown across the room.

"Alright, little vermin," Ever said to it, feeling a bit stupid for talking to a bird. "If you don't shut up, I'm going to rip off all your feathers and feed you to my brother."

The little owl ignored her and twittered, its ember eyes that looked so much like Lynette's flickering around the room with lively excitement.

Ever hissed, "shut _up_."

To her surprise, it actually did shut up, but its mouth kept working as though it were still making noises. It didn't seem to notice that it couldn't talk anymore because its eyes still flickered in every direction.

Something flickered in Ever's mind, and she stared at herself in the mirror. It had to be her imagination, because she could have sworn she looked a bit different, it was a subtle difference but very noticeable – to her, anyways.

She had her honey blonde hair, her grey eyes, her pale face, but it was more of a transparent. Maybe the way she stood there, maybe the look in her eyes, Ever didn't know – but she looked somehow… powerful. She knew she had always been powerful – how could she not be if she got her parents to do everything for her? – But this was a different kind of power, almost…

Magical.

Ever flinched at this word and horridly turned away from the mirror. She was disgusted for thinking such a thing, but she couldn't ignore the fact that she had felt a stir of pleasure in her at the mere thought of it. But not anymore, now she felt a bit queasy.

"Get off my head," Ever said to the bird harshly. "Get off my head _now_."

The bird _rolled_ off Ever's head, blond strands of hair stuck to its feet. Ever rubbed the spot the hairs were ripped from and glared at the little bird, who was still trying to make noise.

Stuck to the little birds feet, was a small piece of paper – the old fashioned heavy kind, the one Harry used and the one Hogwarts used. Ever reached out and started to untie it.

The little ugly bird looked down at her hand and took a bite of it, making Ever hiss and pull her hand back. The bird didn't seem to think anything by it, because it started looking around the room again.

Ever suddenly realized why Harry chose this bird to send.

Ever reached out again and untied the parchment. The bird mustn't have liked the taste of her because he didn't try to bite again – not that she wasn't complaining. That bloody hurt.

The letter was short and simple, like the last one.

_I'm waiting at London_.

Ever disposed of the paper (threw it in her trash) and felt a bit distressed. It would be easy to get to London, all she had to do was say that Isabelle was there waiting for her and Vernon would take her there straight away, but it was getting tiring to pretend. Was this her life now? Lying and pretending to her friends, family? It was sad, she didn't feel like herself anymore, she didn't know what she felt like but it wasn't normal.

Ever remembered reading a girl's diary in front of everyone in the playground when she was little. The girl had been undeniably pretty and she was popular; naturally, Ever had felt threatened. So Ever had stolen her diary and read all the girl's deep and dark secrets. The girl had some juicy stuff in there, too, a secret crush and family problems, _and_ she wasn't as rich as she told everyone she was. In fact, she was really dirt poor. The girl had been humiliated and shunned, but Ever wondered if the girl had been a bit relieved that the secret was out. Did it feel good to not keep secrets?

Ever didn't know, she never would. This secret, the one of her being a rich, would remain hidden. No matter what.

"I love you, Daddy," Ever said, giving him a kiss on his cheek. That wasn't something Ever normally said, but she had never felt as though he could be ripped from her so easily before. "Thank you for taking me."

Vernon smiled at his daughter and didn't seem to notice the strange behavior with her. Ever didn't know why, but she felt a strange sadness at this. Shouldn't parents know something was wrong with their children?

Ever shook this thought out of her head and climbed out of the car. Ever head in the street turned in her direction. Ever was a bit pleased like this, having seen this happen many times when Ida walked by, but then she realized that everyone was looking at Vernon's car – which was new and shiny – and she felt deflated.

The street Vernon had taken her was the exact one they usually went – Harry came here many times too, which made Ever think that this was what he meant by 'London'.

It was a crowded little place, tall shops with sparkling glass windows that showed what they sold. One shop held cute little dresses Vernon always avoided and Isabelle always seemed to fly to, another shop held ugly dresses and sweaters Petunia would force Ever to go to, and another shop held layered cakes Dudley and Ever would show to her parents. The people in the street didn't glance at each other as they walked back, didn't wave hi like old friends, but that was only to be expected. In this part in town, no one knew each other – no one cared. If there was a wailing child saying he missed his mummy, people would pretend they wouldn't hear.

Ever walked through the street, wondering exactly where Harry would have wanted to meet up. They didn't know each other well, not really, they had never spoken and the only memories they shared were walking by each other in the house and eating at the same table; so trying to understand where Harry would go was complicated.

A man walked by Ever, surrounded by elder ladies wearing weird cloaks. He was a handsome man, Ever noticed, her cheeks flushing when he flashed her a smile, with his golden hair curled and his eyes as blue as the sea; but he was soon surrounded by even more strange women in cloaks and Ever could no longer see his gleaming smile. He looked a lot like Ever would imagine Prince Charming resembled.

Ever was pushed and shoved by women holding glossy books with the man's face on it – did he move? – as they tried to get him to sign it.

Ever scowled and moved away from the man and his fan club. She forced her mind back on her mission: find Harry. Ever amused herself at how much it sounded like Dudley's favorite game: Harry Hunting. Not an imaginative name but very catchy.

_What does Harry like?_ Ever tried to remember. _What were his interests?_

Ever thought this was ridiculous. It was never liked she spent any time with him. It wasn't like she ever _cared_ – she still didn't, in fact. So why was he making it so complicated to find him?

Maybe he wasn't trying to make it difficult. Maybe he just thoughtEver would know where he was. Maybe he thought it was so obvious that Ever would know immediately.

_He was wrong_.

Ever passed a small shop that sold party supplies and stopped at the shop next to that one.

Wanda's Wizards' Works. It was a shop the Dursleys avoided like the plague. It wasn't _really_ a wizards shop, but it was for little kids who believed in stuff like that. There were a bunch of fake eyeballs and fingers in jars in this shop; kids put it in the cauldrons and mixed it together, pretending they were really making a potion but were really only creating a nice minty smell that the parents loved.

Maybe Harry thought it was a good joke, but Ever felt a bit annoyed. This was serious and Harry thought it was amusing. Ever remembered the look on his face at Ida's Ice Cream and knew that he didn't think it was amusing, but picking this shop to meet up was not cool.

Ever opened the shop and the little plastic witch with red eyes and a hooked nose that stood next to the door starting cackling when she walked past it. The kids that were near it jumped and laughed, but the parents rolled their eyes in annoyance – obviously sick of the witch already. Ever didn't blame them, the witch kept on laughing until she left.

The shop smelled like different scented candles, the jars that stood on the counters filled with a bunch of yucky stuff like eyes, fingers, green mush, worms (all fake, of course). There was a row of black cloaks and witches hats there too, for kids who wanted to dress up while making a potion. Like Ida's Ice Cream shop, they seemed to think regular light bulbs were overrated because instead of being yellow, they glowed neon green, giving the plastic witches who stood on shelves a sort of eerie aura that crept Ever out a bit.

Ever looked around the shop, trying to find the familiar mop of jet black hair, but all she seen were a bunch of cloaked figures and red haired people. The red hair seemed to tug at a memory, but it must have been insignificant because no matter how much Ever tried, she couldn't remember.

Ever looked at each face of the person, but most of them were wearing masks. It didn't matter though, Harry's eyes had always been strangely unique – _abnormal_, Petunia liked to say – so even if he was wearing a mask, which Ever strongly doubted, she would know it was him.

Suddenly, a hand came and tapped her on the shoulder. Ever jumped and whipped around, ready to lash out if this guy was a weirdo. Thankfully, he wasn't an elder person, but a boy. A boy her age.

He had a flare of red hair and pretty blue eyes, but he also had a long nose and freckles – not even the cute freckles but freckles that almost looked like some kind of disease. Still, he had something about him that seemed a bit cute.

"Yes?" Ever asked, smiling and fluttering her eyes a bit. She didn't know why girls did this, but she had seen people on TV do this many times when they see a boy, so she did it too.

This seemed to affect the boy somehow because his ears turned red and he stuttered. "Er – would you be – erm… Ever?"

Ever felt a jolt of shock that this boy knew her name. "Yes?" it came out like a question.

"Erm…" the boy glanced behind him, like he wished someone would come and help him. "I'm Ron."

"Hi Ron," Ever said, not really having anything else to say.

"Hi," Ron said. "Can you come with me?"

Ever felt a bit uneasy. Maybe kids her age _could_ be weirdoes. There was a first for everything, right?

"My Daddy said I shouldn't go anywhere with strangers," Ever said, guarded. "So unless you tell me what you want then I'm going to have to leave."

"I'm Harry's friend," Ron said. "You remember me, right? You've seen me in the flying car. You were the girl sitting on the roof."

The memory surfaced and Ever realized why the red hair looked so familiar. "Oh," Ever blinked. "What do you want?"

"To take you to Harry," Ron said, looking less awkward. "He's over there, he's waiting for you."

Ever hesitated but then followed the boy deeper into the shop. All the red haired people she had seen before were gone.

"What happened to all the red haired people?" Ever said out loud.

Ron looked embarrassed for some reason. Maybe he was self-conscious about his red hair. "Er, I told them I'll take you to Harry and they went back to him."

"Are you all family?" Ever felt doubtful. There had been a _lot_ of red hair.

"Yes," Ron said. "My parents, brothers, and sister."

"Oh," Ever said, and didn't need to say anything else because she caught sight of the familiar green eyes shining through the darkness of the shop. The eyes didn't look excited.

"Hi Ever," Harry said, getting up. He was surrounded by the red haired people Ever had seen around the shop, they were all giving her a cautious inspecting look.

"Hi Harry," Ever didn't take her eyes off the red haired mother who was giving her a very bitter look.

"These are the Weasleys," Harry felt the need to introduce. "This is Mrs. Weasley," he pointed to the red haired woman. "Mr. Weasley, Fred and George, Percy, Ginny, and that's Ron."

Ever nodded to them, not saying anything.

"Harry…. Can I talk to you?" Ever asked quietly.

Harry followed her a little way away from the Weasleys, far enough so they could hear but close enough that they still seen the green in his eyes.

"You told a whole family about me?" Ever hissed, furious.

"They're wizards," Harry said. "They would have known when you turned up in Diagon Alley anyways. And I can't lie to them."

"I've been lying to Mummy and Daddy for days," Ever hissed. "And you're saying you can't even avoid the subject of me at this stupid wizards' house!"

Harry's eyes flashed with indignation at the word 'stupid' but he didn't comment on it.

"How else am I supposed to take you to Diagon Alley?" Harry said. "I wouldn't be able to get there by myself."

"How did you get to Ida's Ice Cream?" Ever demanded.

"I told them I needed to help you with something so Mr. Weasley drove me over there and picked me up afterwards," Harry answered.

Ever looked at him in disbelief. He didn't even think of lying about it in the first place, he just told the outright truth. Ever found this unbelievable and odd.

"They would have known anyways," Harry reminded Ever. "Do you still want my help or not?"

Ever pursed her lips in a way that reminded Harry of his Aunt Petunia. But unlike how it made Petunia look like a horse, it made Ever look just plain irritated – it was a bit intimidating.

"Fine," Ever snapped, crossing her arms as though she was cold. She still felt all the Weasleys' eyes on her. "But tell them to stop looking at me like that."

"They can't help it," Harry shrugged, then walked over to the Weasleys, Ever following him bitterly.

The red haired man who stood next to his scowling wife was the only one _not_ giving her an odd look, instead he smiled and thrust out his hand for her to shake. She shook it.

"I'm Mr. Weasley," he said, though Harry had already introduced them. He looked like the typical father; jolly, balding, and thin. "You're Harry's cousin, right? Ever, was it?"

"Yes," Ever said softly. "Ever Dursley."

"Interesting name," Mr. Weasley looked bemused in a way that made Ever indignant. Like _Weasley_ was a normal name. "Well, you know how to take the Floo, right?" Ever stared at him blankly and he slapped his forhead with his large hand. "Oh, yes! You're a Muggle! Of course you don't know how. Percy, why don't you show her?"

Ever was wondering if Muggle was an insult when the tallest red haired boy (who looked a bit nerdy. He was the sort of boy Petunia would want Ever to date when she grew older) took a sack from his father and took out a pinch of dull grey dust. Percy, as Mr. Weasley had called him, stepped into the empty fire place Ever had thought was fake but seemed to turn realistic the second he went into it, and said loudly and clearly, "Diagon Alley!" he threw the grey dust into the fire. Ever screamed.

Emerald green fire erupted at his feet and consumed him, but he didn't seem surprised or scared. He let it lick at his face and soon you couldn't see any inch of him. When the fire died down, he wasn't there.

"It's alright," the boy named Fred said, obviously amused at Ever's expression. Fred was obviously the twin of George, both identical to the last freckle. "He hasn't _really _burst in flames."

"Yeah," George agreed, the same amused glint in their eyes. "It just seems like he did."

Ever didn't think this was funny, and she was worried that becoming a wizard would make _her_ go mad too.

"Fred, George!" Mrs. Weasley snapped, then turned to Ever, the scowl still present on her face. "The Floo is like feletorting for you Muggles. He's not hurt, he's just appeared in a different fire place."

"What is feletorting and why are you calling me a _muggle_?" Ever demanded, irritated with this witch.

"She means teleporting," Harry explained. "And muggle means non-magical people. That's not you now, though."

Ever pursed her lips. "Teleporting isn't real."

"You didn't think magic was real," Ever took a sharp breath at the 'm' word but Harry ignored it, "but it is."

Ever looked uneasily at the place Percy had burst into flames.

"Maybe I should go again," Ron said bravely. "Just to make sure she seen it right."

Ron took a pinch of grey sand and stepped into the fire place, that morphed into a realistic form again. He grinned at Ever, then flushed when Fred and George sniggered. He cleared his throat and said, "Diagon Alley!" He let the sand fall onto the charred wood at his feet and soon he too disappeared within the green flames.

"Alright, Ever," Mr. Weasley said brightly, as though two of his sons _hadn't_ just been consumed by dangerous flames. "Your turn. Remember, say it loudly and clearly, unless you _want_ to end up in a random fireplace."

"Say Diagon Alley?" Ever asked nervously.

"Yes," Mr. Weasley smiled. "Don't worry, it's easy."

Ever wasn't convinced but took a pinch of sand anyways. She walked towards the fireplace, which looked fake again, and stuck her foot out to it. To her amazement, it seemed to sink in the closer her foot got. Soon, it looked like a realistic fire place.

She cleared her throat and said in a voice she used when she read that girl's diary to the kids in the playground, "Diagon Alley!"

And all she seen was green.


	5. Vault

Ever felt as though the floor opened up below her, except she wasn't falling – instead, she was _flying. _It was a gentle swoop in her stomach and then she felt weightless. The only thing that ruined the affect was the fact that she could actually _feel_ the bricks of the fireplace scraping against her elbows as she flew from fireplace to fireplace. Ever screamed out for help but her voice had been lost behind her – or maybe the shock of what was happening made her speechless. Whatever it was, it was unpleasant.

Finally, Ever felt her feet hit the wood of a fireplace. She would have stumbled, but years of ballet made her graceful and she only wobbled a bit on her feet before steadying. The sight in front of her was almost as shocking as Percy bursting into flames.

Diagon Alley turned out to be cobbled alley filled with shops – _wizarding_ shops – and a couple of restaurants. The beautiful thing about Diagon Alley was that everything seemed to be so _bright_ and even the shops seemed to be smiling and laughing – _not_ just the people.

"Yeah, that's the expression most people where when they first catch a glimpse of Diagon Alley," Percy said pompously. Ever noticed that it wasn't just Mr. Weasley who didn't seem uneasy around Ever, but Percy too. Ever wondered what his and Harry's relationship was like. "It _is_ pretty impressive, I suppose. The Ministry approves of this street, that's for sure, it's on all the wizarding maps."

"The Ministry?" Ever said, feeling shocked. "They know about the wizarding world? Wait – the Minister isn't a _wizard_, is he?"

Ron bounced forward to answer the question, apparently feeling a bit too much like a background. "Not your muggle Minister, but our minister is. I'd step out of that fireplace; by the way, the next person who comes out might end up on top of you."

Ever hurriedly jumped out of the fireplace and straightened herself out, still eating up the scene of Diagon Alley. On the back of her mind she knew she should be disgusted at the sight of a girl her age waving around a wand excitedly, but all she really felt was incredulous. There was a wizard _Minister_? Weren't ministers supposed to be orderly – somehow the word magic didn't mix with the word 'order'.

"Wizards have their own ministry," Ever said weakly.

"Well why shouldn't they?" Percy said, a bit indignant. "We certainly can't follow _all_ of the muggles' rules – that would be chaos. There would be war – it's happened before."

"It has?" Ever tried to remember a normal people war against freaks but she came up to a blank. "When?"

"Salem Witch trials," Percy said, looking at Ever as though she had gone a little weird. "I thought you muggles loved history."

"Stop calling me that," Ever snapped. "And we don't _love_ history – we _remember_ it and I never really understood why anyone would want to think of a silly time like the Witch tri-"

There was a swooshing noise from behind Ever and she whirled around in time to see the green flames in the fire place die down and out stepped Ginny Weasley, who coughed out some dust and wiped some dirt on her worn out jeans. Ginny tossed her mane of red hair back and surveyed the three with pretty brown eyes.

"Where's Harry?" Ginny asked, talking for the first time.

"My guess is the place you just left him," Ron rolled his eyes at Ever, and she knew instantly that Ginny had a crush on Harry – Ron seemed both amused and exasperated at the same time, meaning his sister talked about Ever's cousin often. "He isn't exactly just going to _appear_ here."

Ginny sent Ron an annoyed look. "He went through the fire _before_ me, Ron." Suddenly her irritated expression became worried. "What if he came through a different fire? He can be _anywhere_-"

There was another roar and another red head stepped through the flames. Mrs. Weasley's eyes rested on Percy, swept over Ever, went to Ron then landed on Ginny. Her eyebrows furrowed.

"Where's Harry?" Mrs. Weasley said, sounding a lot like Ginny.

"Didn't come through," Ron answered, smirking a bit. "He always finds trouble, doesn't he?"

"This isn't funny, Ron," Ginny snapped. "He can be in _Australia_ for all we knew!"

"He couldn't have gone that far," Percy disagreed before Ron could make an indignant response. "He's most likely somewhere in London, probably in Diagon Alley."

Mrs. Weasley grabbed Ginny's hand as though she were a little girl and tugged her along. "We'll look around, then. Tell your father to search for him too."

"Of course," Percy said, and then turned dutifully to the fire.

Mrs. Weasley and Ginny disappeared among the crowd, their red hair no longer visible. Ever turned back to the fire and, after a while, the rest of the Weasley family was out of the fire and was causing a scene worrying about Harry.

"He can be anywhere," Mr. Weasley said, his eyes flicking this way and that as though expecting Harry to jump out of the crowd with a big smile on his face. "Where can we start the search…?"

"Probably right here," Ever said, a bit annoyed. All this attention flying through the air and it was focused on _Harry_? Ever's world was changing and it _wasn't_ for the better.

"Right, excellent suggestion, Ever," Mr. Weasley smiled graciously at Ever and bustled her and his children forward. "Well, there's no use standing around! We need to get a move on."

Ever followed them mournfully. It was bad enough she had to go to this weird street to get some _magic_ supplies, now she had to search for Harry. He did what he was needed for; he brought her to Diagon Alley, why couldn't the Weasleys leave her alone now? She didn't want to follow their heels like some sort of lost puppy – Ever _hated_ puppies. But even she had to admit that the scenery was a bit interesting. One shop had a large cauldron hanging on a thin wire, the brass shimmering like a thousand diamonds; another shop had thick barred cages that had different sort of creatures in it – owls, cats, two headed snakes, six eyed toads, even an ugly raven with an ink black beak.

"He's probably off buying his things," Ever said loudly in a whining voice. "Something that _we_ should be doing…" everyone ignored her, so she went on. "You know, all of the _good_ stuff might be gone before we get there."

"I agree," Percy finally said. "Harry will turn up at some time."

"It's our responsibility to return him to his relatives," Mr. Weasley said. "They'll be worried if he doesn't turn up."

Ever held in a snort. Her parents had been more than happy when he had ran away – Dudley was a bit disappointed to miss his punching bag but Dudley got over it fast, he's easily distracted. But surely Harry must tell people about his evil family – he must get a lot of sympathy for it – so why was Mr. Weasley acting as though Petunia would care for him?

"Hey, Dad, is that him?" Fred pointed to a large man with shaggy hair and a beard, he wore a large drench coat and thick boots that looked like leather but weren't, his beetle-like eyes flicked around the crowd until they settled on the Weasleys and Ever. His face stretched as though he were smiling.

"That looks nothing like Harry," Ever said, narrowing her eyes at this large man. "Wait a second, that's… that's Hagrid!"

Fred looked surprised that Ever knew him, but he was cut off from saying anything when Mr. Weasley spoke, "yes, that' Hagrid. And _that's_ Harry."

Only then did Ever notice the small boy walking beside Hagrid, hurrying to keep up with his pace. Harry was dirty from head to toe, even his glasses had a bit of smudge on them, but still – impossibly green – they shone through and rested on Ever.

"And Hermione," Ron said.

Ever seen a plain-looking girl standing near Harry, her hair bushy and her eyes very brown. Ever felt a twinge of envy, she had always loved brown eyes and all she got stuck with was her boring grey.

Ever got distracted with her musings at the Weasleys rushed forward, leaving her in the dust. Ever rolled her eyes and walked reluctantly over to them.

"Harry," Mr. Weasley said, the little jog making him pant. "Good, you're here, we were worried…"

"I'm fine," Harry said.

"Where did you come out from?" Ron asked.

"Knockturn Alley," Harry said rather grimly.

Ever quirked up an eyebrow in amusement. What was wrong with ending up in an alley and why was it so serious? Granted, it was a street infested with wizard freaks but that must be considered normal to all these people.

"Excellent!" Fred and George said at the same time.

Ron frowned a bit enviously. "We've never been allowed in Knockturn Alley."

"I should hope not," Hagrid growled, making Ever jump a bit. She remembered what he did to Dudley, it's not really forgettable when a pig's tail sprouts out of your elder brother's bottom. Harry noticed Ever's reaction with a grin.

Mrs. Weasley suddenly came galloping into view, her handbag swinging in one hand and Ginny clinging to the other – looking very much like a little girl, though she was definitely taller than Ever.

"Oh, Harry," Mrs. Weasley said breathlessly. "I was so worried – you could have been anywhere!"

Mrs. Weasley took out a large handkerchief and attacked Harry with it while Mr. Weasley fixed his cracked glasses by tapping his wand with it. The glass seemed to heal itself and Ever found herself more unnerved than ever.

"Well, gotta be off," said Hagrid, "See yeh at Hogwarts!" Thankfully, he left because Ever was feeling more and more unnerved because he kept talking with his hands – and in his hand was a horrifyingly familiar pink umbrella.

Ron immediately went over to Harry and the bushy haired girl – Hermione? – and the three of them walked up through large white doors that looked so much like a bank's. They walked together as though they were familiar with the way they walked – Ever, Isabelle, Olivia, and Lynette had tried a friendship walk, but it ended up with them sprawled across the floor tangled in each other's limbs – but Ever supposed that if the three tried a friendship walk then they would be experts. She felt a stir of envy at this revelation.

Ever blocked out the conversation they had, because they were saying it in such an unguarded way that it made Ever wonder if she and her friends sounded that comfortable with each other. She sincerely doubted this.

"What is this place?" Ever demanded. "Why are we here?"

"This is Gringotts," Percy answered. "Wizards bank – "

"Wizards have banks?"

"Of course, don't you muggles do?"

Ever glared. "_Stop_ calling me a muggle."

Percy sighed and didn't explain anything further, so Ever took the time to look around at her surroundings. It was a vast marble hall with long counters stretching along its length with doors leading off somewhere. There were also goblins sitting behind these counters. Scary-looking goblins with leathery skin and black beady eyes to go with their already creepy features. It was enough to give anyone nightmares.

"Are those goblins," Ever asked. "because if they are, _how_ do you trust them with your money? I'm pretty sure they are possessive with things and won't let us have our money back."

"Those are fairy tales," Harry said. "And what you're thinking about are trolls under bridges…"

"You can trust goblins with your gold," Mr. Weasley assured Ever quietly. "You just can't trust them with _their_ gold."

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?"

But Mr. Weasley wasn't paying attention to her anymore, he had caught sight of two middle aged people standing nervously at a counter, looking right at the Weasleys. The resembled Hermione in some way, at least, the mother had bushy hair and the father had the brown eyes. They were obviously Hermione's parents.

"But you're Muggles!" said Mr. Weasley delightedly. "We must have a drink! What's that you've got there? Oh, you're changing Muggle money. Molly, look!" He pointed excitedly at the ten-pound notes in Mr. Granger's hand.

The goblin at the counter surveyed the scene, looking a bit bored, and then his eyes flicked to me. Even though they were pitch black Ever could see them spark with interest.

"Hello," Ever said stiffly.

Mrs. Weasley looked up at the sound of her voice and seemed to have an internal struggle before sighing and stepping forward.

"Ever, you will need to change your muggle money into wizard money," she said. "Do you have money?"

Ever choked back a scoff. "Of _course_ I have money," Ever said bitterly, and outside her sweater she took out a few rolls of one hundred dollar bills she had took from Vernon's 'for a rainy day' jar. He wouldn't miss it.

"That's money?" Mr. Weasley said excitedly, even the other Weasley looked at it in interest. "But look at the shape! And it looks like some kind of odd looking parchment… weird!"

"Yeah, weird," Ever said, slightly annoyed. "You guys can go collect your gold now, I've got it from here."

"Are you sure?" Hermione said. "I remember the first time I came here and everything was _so_ confusing-"

"I've had a bank account before," Ever cut her off. "In fact, I still do. I'm pretty sure there is something similar between these sort of banks and regular banks."

Mrs. Weasley glared at the word 'regular'.

"Alright," Mr. Weasley said. "Come on children."

"Meet you back here," Ron said to Hermione, then his eyes flicked over to Ever and he flushed a bit. "Er – see you later."

Ever watched him leave with a bit of bemusement. No one had ever had a crush on her – not that she was aware of, at least – and to find that the first boy to take an interest in her was a freakish wizard was a bit startling. Ron wasn't the sort of person Ever could find herself attracted in with his red hair, freckles, long nose, and big hands but it was flattering nonetheless.

Hermione cleared her throat awkwardly and turned pointedly to her parents. "Mum, Dad, are we going?"

"Sure," Hermione's mother seemed startled at her daughter's abrupt rudeness but led her through one of the doors behind the counter.

Ever rolled her eyes and knew that she and Hermione wouldn't be close friends – she doubted she would be close friends with anyone in this freak school. Ever assured herself that she didn't need friends, that she was always good company to herself. Satisfied, she turned to the goblin, which was glaring down at her.

"I would like to make an… erm… what exactly do you people call your accounts?" Ever said.

"Vaults," the goblin replied, not politely.

"Well, I'll create a vault," Ever said, placing the money on the counter. The goblin took it in his large, scaly, ugly, nasty claw like hands and held it inches from his nose. He didn't even count it.

"Follow Gobblegirk to your new vault, Miss…"

"Miss Dursley," Ever said. "Miss Ever Dursley."

The goblin nodded his terribly ugly head and pointed to another goblin, this one having hardly any wrinkles and even had his ink black hair done in a hairdo similar to a mullet – yet more tame.

Ever followed it reluctantly as they both went through the same door Hermione and her parents went through. Ever wasn't sure what she expected, but a roller-coaster cart wasn't it. Ever had always loved roller-coasters, just as much as she loved Ida's Ice cream Shop, because the way her curly blonde hair flew behind her as the air whipped through it made her feel as though she were flying – flying and free.

Ever hesitated but she stepped in the cart, noticing that there weren't any seat belts.

"Er – I think this one is broken," Ever said to Gobblegirk.

"It isn't," Gobblegirk replied.

"But there isn't anything to keep me tied to the seat- AAAAAAAAHAHA!" Ever's scream turned into a shrill laugh as the cart whipped about at top speed. Ever's honey locks whipped around her face, and her eyes watering – unable to blink.

When we got to a bare door that had what seemed to be a ship's steering attached to it.

"Is this my vault?" Ever said, a bit eager to have another bank account. Another thing Dudley would be jealous of – but, of course, Dudley can never find out about this. No one could. Well, no one that matters at least.

"Yes," Gobblegirk said. "Place your hand on the door."

"For what?" Ever said, glaring at it suspiciously.

It was unfazed by her glare. "The door absorbs a shadow of your personality. Whatever protection it gets is the kind of protection you would want it to get."

Ever crossed her arms stubbornly.

"Unless you would rather it have no protection at all…"

"Alright, fine!" Ever snapped and slapped her hand against the door, the sound echoing in the dark and clammy tunnel. Almost immediately a swooping sensation went through Ever's body, and she felt as though she was being drained of blood. "Ouch! _Ouch_! What is this _stupid_ door doing! Stop it! I don't like this – _stop_!"

"Calm down, clam down," Gobblegirk had the nerve to look amused. "Most people say that it's ticklish."

"Well it's a torture instrument for me," Ever snapped, snatching her hand from the door.

"Often means you don't agree with your own personality," Gobblegirk said wisely.

Ever glared at it again. "I completely agree with my own personality."

She turned to the door again and noticed that it had changed somehow. The ship's steering changed into a large doorknob that seemed as though only Hagrid's hands would be able to wrap around. It had jeweles inbeded in it and it seemed to twinkle even though there was no sun to beam down at it. The door itself seemed to be made of dark silver – but it wasn't in no way beautiful, it looked slightly scary.

Ever took a step back from it and felt like jumping back into the cart. _That_ was not a reflection of her personality – she didn't expect it to be beautiful (she didn't find herself horribly pretty anyways) but she didn't find herself as… evil. That's what radiated off of the door – _evil_.

"Are you sure I did it right?" Ever asked nervously. She took a step forward and was about to place her hand on the door again when the goblin grabbed the back of her shirt and yanked her backwards. "Hey! Unhand me!"

The goblin rolled his eyes and let go of her. "If you touch the door you will be turned into something horrifyingly demeaning – like a slug or a toad."

"What?" Ever said.

"That's your personality," the goblin said. "The thing you think is the worst thing in the world is to become something lowly."

Ever thought about that for a moment, then seemed to think that that wasn't insulting in the least so she nodded. "Alright, how do I open it, then?"

"With a goblin's help," Gobblegirk said.

Ever looked down at him, incredulous. "_Help_? I need a _goblins_ help to get to my own money?"

"You need a goblins help to protect your money in the first place," the goblin sneered at her, as though looking down at a bug – the feeling of disgust must be mutual.

The goblin stepped forward and ran a long nailed finger down the door. Where his fingers had been, an ink black web started to grow, spreading throughout the silver till it was pitch black – the door began to melt before Ever's eyes – quickly.

"That's insane," she said. "Why can't you have a regular door like _normal_ people?"

"The door reflects your personality," the goblin said. "Meaning to say… you are in no way 'normal'."

But Ever wasn't listening to the goblin's meaningless ramblings. She was looking at the mounds and mounds of gold that lay before her – not only gold but heaps of silver too – and a whole row of knuts. The vault was a large room that's dull black walls paled in comparison to all the money.

Ever didn't know what she was expecting the wizards to use as money – probably fingers and arms – but actual gold wasn't it. One coin would give her a hundred pounds – somehow she doubted the goblins knew this, or else they wouldn't have given her so much.

"How much would I need for a year at Hogwarts?" Ever asked, not taking her eyes off all of her money.

"Three hundred galleons the least," the goblin said. "But only if you want the high class stuff – I _doubt_ you would like anything less."

"You're right," Ever turned to the goblin. "Now collect six hundred galleons – I want twice as much as anyone else."

Gobblegirk looked at Ever with his ugly black beads for eyes. "You have a lot to learn, young witch. Here's your first lesson," the goblin took a leather bag off of a hook and forced it into my hands. "I am an escort and I don't do your dirty work. Collect your own money."

Gobblegirk wandered off back to the cart without a second glance back. Ever glared after it and turned back to the gold with a small pout. Counting six hundred galleons would be hard work…

After counting her gold, she went back to the cart where Gobblegirk was lounging in the front seat, inspecting his dirty nails.

"Thanks for the help, goblin," Ever snapped irritably.

"I was under the impression that you didn't like help," the goblin said back coolly. "My mistake."

Ever gripped her heavy bag of gold and glared at nothing in particular. All that counting… the numbers still swirled around in her head – six, eight, and seventeen, five hundred forty…

"By the way," the goblin said, grabbing the lever and yanking it back. "The piles were sorted by fifty coins each…"

Ever blinked. "Wait – _what_?"

But it was too late, because the cart was already going a breakneck speed.

"Wait," Harry said, looking around at the group of redheads and Hermione. "Ever isn't here yet."

Hermione looked around, strangely unconcerned. "Well, she probably went off somewhere. She does like to go off alone, doesn't she?"

Harry thought it was odd that Hermione got such an abrupt opinion so soon but he didn't question it. He turned to Mrs. Weasley, "She's still in there."

"How would you know?" Percy asked.

"She likes to count her money," Harry said, not knowing why he felt slightly ashamed by this. His cousin's business was nothing to him – in fact, why wasn't he leaving? What did he care if Ever was lost?

"There she is!" Ron said brightly, pointing to a door.

Harry turned to see his cousin walking in a sulking matter behind a goblin, a large leather bag held tightly to her chest. The goblin said something – a bit smugly – and Ever glared at it. She had that same glint in her eye that she had when she was ready to fight someone – though she was small, she had a right iron fist.

Ever walked over to them and stopped in front of them.

"Well?" she said, her nose high in the air. "Are we off?"

And without looking back, she skipped down the stone steps.


End file.
